I'm not sure comparing the performance of DDR to GDDR memory is quite accurate here. You're right that having large amount of memory even if split between two processors is still good especially with new optimizations to bridge the gap between the unified memory architecture on the consoles and the split system on PCs. But you get much higher memory bandwidth with GDDR memory and even lower latency with a unified memory architecture. So with bandwidth hungry tasks related to AI and RT you could see certain features not working well on licensed Xboxes or PCs in the first year or two until there is enough VRAM. But again this would only be shortlived for 1 or 2 years and only if my speculation about a more than 2x jump in memory turns out true.
Yes its impressive, thanks for sharing. Seems like they glued together some good APIs. The magic is in how good the APIs are, I could write these code myself. Yes MS could even add advanced Retrieval Augmented Generation(RAGs) to add context and make the in game AI conversation even more reliable.
I meant relatively large AI accelerator. You'd need it for better inference for the gaming workloads. So more die area allocated to inference for ML workloads. This is going to be a trend moving forward. We'll see the same with the PS5 pro. It will have more die area allocated to PSSR and RT hw accelerators.
For the bandwidth the infinity cache definitely improves on performance but empirical data has shown it has only marginal improvements. You'd get more bang for your buck with higher bandwidth GDDR memory. I remember Xbox One tried some sort of caching techniques and they actually didnt turn out well. They were compensating since they had gone with DDR3 RAM(Mama mia what a blunder) while Sony went with GDDR5. Also GPUs are much more parallel in nature than CPUs so things like cache coherency are more of a problem with CPUs. The Infinity Cache definitely offers some benefits but its not going to give you a generational leap. It will provide marginal improvements in performance. You'd get more bang for you buck by increasing cache size on the CPU die but thats expensive which is why you see console CPUs cut the cache sizes for their CPUs or omit things like infinity cache on the GPU. Dont judge me if I'm wrong, I last sat in Comp architecture class years ago. But splitting the memory would actually increase latency and make the console slower. With unified memory the processors both have access to the same physical memory addresses and this is much more efficient and faster. So they need to choose one type of memory for the whole system. And between DDR and GDDR the higher bandwidth type(GDDR) is better since it wont bottleneck the GPU as well more than meets the CPU's bandwidth requirements. The lower latency you could get from using DDR is offset by the shared physical memory addresses of unified GDDR memory. Its just a much much smarter more efficient more powerful memory system really. It would be a self own splitting the memory.
Yes launching earlier definitely gave them a headstart and was a huge reason as well for the success. You're absolutely right. BUT:
1.) The Xbox 360 still launched at a time when other industry advancements had taken place. There was newer faster memory(GDDR3 was a year old) available, they had also taken some design IP from companies working with Sony on their cell processor(IBM) incorporated it into their Xeon CPU as well. And in those days it was much easier to see changes from generation to generation due to moore's law. Now generations last longer and you still need to time your new gen hw when there are serious advancements. One of which is memory, A good early start would be end of 2026, but MS would need to sign deals this year for titles to be developed for the cross gen period that take advantage of the hw.
2.) The 360 launched with an impressive launch line up. Today releasing early means you take on larger pressure to show why your new hw is worth upgrading to due to the aforementioned. After the Series consoles, very very few people are going to buy new Xbox hardware without a clear show of games that take advantage of the hw. They squandred that trust at the start of this gen. They need to rebuild that and in a way that doesnt put pressure on themselves. If they are planning on launching hw earlier than the competition, they need an even bigger software line up to get people into the ecosystem.
So there are pros and cons to launching earlier than the PS5 from a business and technical perspective. In the MS FTC leaks you can see the expected date for next gen is 2028. But we should expect late 2026 for when we'll get info on the next gen consoles and a late 2027 launch. MS could launch earlier but they need to be more than prepared to prove why they're hw is worth getting.
